Passengers claim that Golden Arrow buses are not safe

“He got in the bus near Belhar,” says Thoza. “It was a Thursday night when I boarded a bus from Bellville to Khayelitsha. Two men boarded near the airport at Matroosfontein Road and sat on the three empty chairs in front of me. I was on the phone when a man came from behind and grabbed my phone and my bag on my lap. I stood up and fought him for my bag. He took out a knife and stabbed me in my left arm. I did not notice I was bleeding until he stabbed me again in my hand.”

“While this was happening another man was pointing a gun at the bus driver to stop the bus and demanding money. Others were robbing people on the bus and had guns on them. There were six of them and I think the other four men boarded the bus in Bellville.”

“After a few minutes the man demanded the driver to drive them to Nyanga. They got off and got into a grey Toyota. They took everything from me — money, phones and bags from people.”

“The bus driver drove straight to the Nyanga police station to open a case, but until today, no one has been arrested,” says Thoza.

Golden Arrow passengers have been complaining to the bus drivers that every time they had to ride a bus in the afternoon around 6pm, they became victims of gangs.

One old lady known as Sphoki, who travels by bus everyday to and from work, also said that the late buses from Wynberg to Khayelitsha are not safe.

“One gang member will stop a bus at a certain bus stop and others will board the bus at the following stop. It’s either they point a gun at the driver, asking for money, while others rob the people inside the bus. Or they just go straight to the passengers and rob them,” she said.

On Wednesday, a learner was silently stabbed by another learner in a Claremont bus. A learner who wished to stay anonymous described the incident as a “private gang battle”.

“This incident happened at the back seat of the bus where only learners sit. And no one screamed, because if we did, gang members will beat us. Normally in a bus older people sit in front, and us learners sit at the back.”

When the boy bled too much, the learners started to panic. His friends escorted him out of the bus. That was when passengers started to see the blood.

“When the bus driver and others started to ask questions, then none of us answered because we were scared and we pretended nothing happened.”

“Since then, that bus does not stop at the bus stop near our school Aucklands High, and the driver does not allow anyone from our school to get on the bus,” the learner said.

Passengers say these incidents happen almost every week. They say they complain, but Golden Arrow is not doing anything about it.

The public relations manager of Golden Arrow, Bronwen Dyke, said that the robbery issue is a public safety problem and people should report the crimes to the police.

“When such incidents happen, the drivers are advised to drive straight to the police station and report the matter immediately,” she says.

“Most Golden Arrow buses have cameras inside the driver’s booth. I do not know why Golden Arrow does not use those cameras to catch the perpetrators,” said a passenger.

Dyke said, “Those cameras are used to monitor the driver, and the area near the driver. Its view does not cover the whole bus, so perpetrators and passengers as they enter the bus are not captured by the camera.”

She says Golden Arrow does not discriminate against people by how they look and how they wear their clothes. “Drivers cannot decided whether or not a passenger is a criminal or choose to allow them on the bus or not. That is not their mandate. Drivers have to take passengers to their destination.”

Dyke said they had identified crime hot spots in certain areas and bus inspectors were visible in those areas.